Monday, October 12, 2015

Hi EveryoneMany
of you have requested for details about the personal life of the Rajput
warrior Maharana Pratap, seeking reliable information about his wives
and children. This article is a culmination of my research into these
aspects of the Maharana's life and aims to provide insightful details
about his family, culled from various sources.It
is an accepted reality that one cannot easily adopt an objective
approach while writing about the personal life of any historical
character. One can only strive to consult as many sources as possible,
before reaching any conclusions. A prime reason
for confusion or simply lack of information in the open domain about
the wives and
children of historical figures is that eminent historians are usually
more concerned with the social, political, religious, and other such
aspects associated with the reign of any king. Royal protocol of many
kingdoms also prevented detailed mention of the queens in chronicles
that could be publicly accessed.Another reason is that
while several historical manuscripts are present in the private
collections of the erstwhile ruling houses of Rajasthan, only those that
are considered important are taken up for research and translation by
eminent scholars. Hence, anyone who really wants to dig up something
concrete about the personal lives of their favourite legends would
benefit by reading the untranslated manuscripts which lie buried
anonymously among thousands of other historical artefacts in these private collections.I
have gone deeply through 8 sources to prepare this article. These
sources have been specified in the article, along with scans from them. I
must admit, however, that i could not access 10 other sources that
could have provided some additional information. This does not in any
way imply that the article is lacking in details of any sort, as readers
would also observe after a careful study.The
present article, by no means, claims to be a final authority regarding
information about the wives and children of Maharana Pratap. My intention in posting this
article is only to share the observations from my reading on this topic
till now.I have already
stated that i could access only 8 ( out of 18 sources ) that could shed
light on this highly personal and hard to procure information. I have
provided details of the exact locations / addresses of the places in
Rajasthan where such manuscripts are present, so that readers who
wish
to continue their personal research into this topic may be able to do
so. It would be a pleasure if readers could share their research
findings here with the rest of us. At the end of this post, a video has been uploaded which shows the wealth of information that may be obtained by a visit to
the City Museum of Udaipur. Some points - worth thinking, have also been included at the end of the post, about availability of Rajput records.

Portrait of Maharana Pratap

This
is not the original portrait of Maharana Pratap Singh. This portrait
is based on a miniature made available from the Udaipur palace to the artist - Raja Ravi Varma Coil Thampuran. The original portrait is still with the Mewar
Royals.

Raja Ravi Varma was a 19th century painter and artist
from the princely state of Travancore (present southern Kerala and parts of
Tamil Nadu). He is considered
among the greatest painters in the history of Indian art and his works
rank among the best examples of the fusion of Indian traditions with the
techniques of European academic art.

Overall List of the Wives of Maharana PratapMaharana Pratap had 11 wives:1. Maharani Ajabde Bai Parmar - first wife of Maharana Pratap. He married her at the age of 17 in 1557. She was the disciple of Shri Vallabhacharya. See this post : Click Here2. Rani Pur Bai Solankhini { A Solanki princess }3. Rani Champa/Chaand Bai Jhali 4. Rani Jasoda Bai Chauhan5. Rani Phool Bai Rathore { Phool Kanwarani Ji before marriage, a Rathore princess from an offshoot of the Rajputs of Marwar }6. Rani Shahmati Bai Hadi { A Hada princess - offshoot of Chauhans; Hadas were the rulers of Kota and Bundi. }

This record, which can be termed the most authentic, as it is from the
personal collection of the royal family of Mewar, has been used to
compile the list of the wives and sons of Maharana Pratap.The
details are from the manuscripts
held in the private collection of the Maharanas of Mewar.

Note:

Maharana
Pratap did not have any concubine in his women's residential quarters.
He exercised a high degree of morality and followed a strict code of
ideals & values in an era when keeping a concubine was considered the norm.Most of his marriages were political alliances. The major
exception to this was the first marriage of Maharana Pratap to Maharani
Ajabde Bai Parmar. Rana Amar Singh who succeeded Maharana Pratap as the
ruler of Mewar and carried on his father's struggle against the Mughals
was born to this couple.Overall List of the Children of Maharana PratapMaharana Pratap
had 17 sons from his 11 wives. No historical record of any daughters[see end of this post]
could be found by us. None of his sons entered the Imperial Mughal
service personally.Here is a list of the Maharana's sons along with their estates:1. Rana Amar Singh Ji Mother - Maharani Ajabde Bai ParmarThe
Maharana’s first son and successor, Rana Amar Singh Ji, was born in
1559. He inherited the estates of Gogunda and Udaipur from his father.
When the Maharana was dying, Rana Amar Singh promised him that he would
never enter the personal service of Mughal Emperors- a promise he kept
lifelong. Rana
Amar Singh waged continuous wars with the Mughals from 1597 to 1614. He
fought in 17 individual battles including the major wars of 1606 and
1610, before the last long-drawn struggle which ended in 1614.

Description
from Mewar Records - Birth of Rana Amar Singh on 16th March 1559 -
the first son of Maharana Pratap & Ajabde Bai Parmar. Rana Udai
Singh was so happy that he proceeded immediately from Chittor and first went to pray at the Ekling Ji temple &
then for hunting, at the village of Aahad.

Later, Rana Udai Singh ordered a dam to be built on the Berach river to ensure adequate supply of water to Mewar. The Udai
Sagar lake was developed as an outcome of this dam, which drains about 479 sq km, and covers an area of 10.5 sq km.

Udai Sagar Lake

Udai Sagar Lake - View from City

Note:The
Berach river is a major tributary of the Banas river in western
Rajasthan. Chittorgarh was situated on the bank of this river. It
originates in the Gogunda hills in the Udaipur district.

5. Kunwar
Khachro Singh Ji inherited the estate of Jolawas, a place in the
Gogunda tehsil of Udaipur district. He served as a deputy in the estate
of his eldest brother Rana Amar Singh.Mother - Rani Champa Bai Jhali

6. Kunwar
Samwal Das Singh Ji inherited the estate of Jamuda in Salumber, which
was the traditional estate of the loyal Chundawat sardars. Remember
Rawat Chundawat who died in the battle of Chittor ?Mother - Rani Champa Bai Jhali

9. Kunwar Chaanda Singh Ji, the second son of Maharana Pratap. He was given the estate of Anjana in Dariba tehsil.Mother - Rani Phool Bai Rathore10. Kunwar Shaikha Singh Ji. He was granted the estates of Bahera, Nana and Bera (Bijapur), in the Gorawad.Mother - Rani Phool Bai Rathore11. Kunwar
Pura Ji , also known as Thakur Puran Mal Ji. He was granted the estates
of Mangrop (in the present Bhilwara district of Udaipur), Gurlam, Gadar-Mala & Singoli. He founded the
Purawat offshoot of the Sisodia Rajputs.Mother - Rani Shahmati Bai Hadi

The Sons of Maharana Pratap and Their Estates as per the Manuscript of Ranawali

15. Kunwar Maal SinghMother - Rani Ratnawati Bai Parmar

16. Kunwar Natha SinghMother - Rani Amara Bai Rathore

17. Kunwar Rai Bhan SinghMother - Rani Lakha Bai Rathore

Details From Other Rajput Records

Now we come to some other records that were encountered while searching for information about the sons
and wives of Maharana Pratap. Listed here are 5 such records.
Relevant scans have also been provided from these records.

Before we begin, let me
add that the some sources provided differing information. I have included these details, as i found them from the different
sources, so that readers may analyse and draw their own conclusions without being influenced by my views. Record - 1Manuscript - 827 {Hand-Copied}Leaves : 14 - 11Rajasthan Prachya Vidhya Pratisthan Library,Udaipur

This record
mentions only 9 wives and 15 sons. The names of Rani Phool Bai Rathore
and Rani Amara Bai Rathore have been left out. The names of Bhagwan Das
Ji and Chaand Singh Ji have been left out. Here is the English translation of the scan:1. Maharani Ajabde Bai Parmar: Name of son - Amarsingh Ji2. Rani Pur Bai Solankhini: Name of son - Bhagwan Das Ji3. RaniChampa Bai Jhali: Name of sons - Sahasa Ji, Gopal Ji 4. RaniJasoda Bai Chauhan: Name of sons - Khachro Ji, Samwal Das Ji, Durjan Singh Ji 5. RaniShahmati Bai Hadi: Name of sons - Kalyan Ji, Shaikha Singh Ji, 6. RaniAsha Bai Khichan: Name of son - Pura Ji 7. RaniAlamde Chauhan: Name of sons - Haathi Singh Ji, Ram Singh Ji8. RaniRatnawati Bai Parmar: Name of son - Jaswant Singh Ji 9. RaniLakha Bai Rathore: Name of son - Naatha Singh Ji, Rai Bhan Singh JiAs can be
seen from the scan, there are contradictions regarding the mothers of
the sons of Maharana Pratap. It's almost
as if the sons have been assigned to the name of the succeeding queen in
the list in many instances. This matches with Record 4 to a great of extent.Record - 3Manuscript - 867 {Hand-Copied}Leaves : 24 - 28/26 {Could not read the number clearly in the photocopy i made, it is either 26 or 28}Rajasthan Prachya Vidhya Pratisthan Library,UdaipurThis
record provides the names of the sons only, as can be seen in the scan.
It lists only 10 sons, out of which the name of one son (Meg Raj Ji)
appears in only 2 of the 5 records posted here.It leaves out the names of Thakur Bhagwan Das Ji, Thakur
Samwal Das Singh Ji, Thakur Durjan Singh Ji, Kunwar Ram Singh, Kunwar
Jaswant Singh, Kunwar Rai Bhan Singh, Thakur Gopal Singh Ji, and Kunwar
Maal Singh.

Record - 4Manuscript - 872 {Hand-Copied}Leaves : 136 - 146Rajasthan Prachya Vidhya Pratisthan Library,UdaipurThis
record again provides the names of the wives and sons of the Maharana.
According to it, the Maharana had 10 wives (Rani Shahmati Bai Hadi is
left out) and 14 sons. It does not mention the names of the princes:
Thakur Chaand Singh Ji, Thakur Shaikha Singh Ji, and Kunwar Haati Singh.

The Wives and Sons of Maharana Pratap, as per Manuscript 872

As
mentioned earlier, this record matches Record 2 to a lot of extent. Here is the English translation of the scan:1. Maharani Ajabde Bai Parmar: Name of son - Amarsingh Ji2. Rani Pur Bai Solankhini: Name of son - Bhagwan Das Ji3. RaniChampa Bai Jhali: Name of sons - Sahasa Ji, Gopal Ji 4. RaniJasoda Bai Chauhan: Name of sons - Khachro Ji, Samwal Das Ji, Durjan Singh Ji 5. RaniPhool Bai Rathore: Name of sons - Kalyan Ji6. RaniAsha Bai Khichan: Name of son - Pura Ji 7. RaniAlamde Chauhan: Name of sons - Ram Singh Ji8. Rani Amaravati (same as Ratnawati Bai Parmar): Name of son - Jaswant Singh Ji 9. Rani Amara Bai Rathore: Name of son - Maal Singh Ji10. RaniLakha Bai Rathore: Name of son - Naatha Singh Ji, Rai Bhan Singh JiRecord - 5Manuscript Number - 262Leaves : 21 - 24Sisod Vanshawali,Literature Section of Rajasthan Vidyapeeth University Library,Pratap Nagar, Udaipur - 313003, Rajasthan{Folks staying in Udaipur can visit this University to access this manuscript.}This
record also provides information about the sons of Maharana Pratap.
Again, it lists only 10 sons and is similar to Record 3.

The Sons of Maharana Pratap, as per Manuscript 262

It lists the following names:1. Rana Amar Singh Ji2. Sosi Ji - Thakur Sahahsa / Sahem / Sahas Mal Ji3. Pura Ji / Puravat - Thakur Pura Ji , also known as Thakur Puran Mal Ji.4. Sesho Ji - Thakur Shaikha Singh Ji5. Haati Ji - Kunwar Haati Singh6. Kalan Ji - Thakur Kalyan Das Ji7. Kachro Ji - Thakur Khachro Singh Ji8. Megraj Ji9. Nag Ji - Kunwar Natha Singh.10. Chando Ji - Thakur Chand Singh Ji11. Left blank12. Left blankConclusion:The discrepancies found in the lists of family members in the last 5 records are to be expected.
This is because these records were made later, without the official sanction of the
Mewar royal house. Most of the information in these records may have been compiled based on
memory or "commonly known" details. These were not written in
Mewar and their author is unknown till now. Research is still going on
in this field.It is
possible that the names of the mothers of the royal princes were not clearly
known to the common people, especially from later generations, because princes were usually brought up together by all
the royal women of the raniwaas, especially the senior queens. We
saw that the names of
some of the queens and princes have been omitted or left blank, most
probably because they were not known to the later generations of chroniclers.

The
most important reason for the discrepancies could be an error in
copying from
the original manuscripts or understanding the sequence of sons and
queens in the list. For instance, the most common mistake in these
records is that the son of one queen has been assigned to the succeeding
queen. This kind of error explains a lot about how the mismatches could
have occurred.

However, clear records are present in the private collection of the Maharanas of
Mewar, which serve as a reference for historians, and which
have been used to compile the overall lists of wives and sons of Maharana Pratap in this article.

Readers
are
requested to share any information they may have regarding this topic,
in general interest, because such information is quite rare and hard to
gather.

Update on Daughters of Maharana Pratap :

Though, I have personally, not found any information about the daughters of Maharana Pratap. However, a friend has recently provided the following information about thedaughters of Maharana Pratap. I am still in a process of going through the records, the details will be updated, as soon as they are obtained. Till then, here is what i have to be shared with my readers :

1. Asha Kunwarni Ji : She was the wife of Raj Rana Jhala Deeda of Sadhri. He died in 1609, fighting the forces of Mughal Emperor Jahangir under Abdullah Khan. (He was the son of Raj Rana Beeda Singh Jhala who died in the Battle of Haldighati, 1576). See the end of this post , point number 4 of Epilogue : Click Here2. Suk-Kunwarani Ji

Mughal
records were accessible to the British 200 years back. Out of an
earnest curiosity to learn about the dynasty that had ruled India for
centuries before them and the manner in which it had been able to do so,
the British started translating Mughal chronicles from Persian to
English over the years. As a result, most Mughal records can be read in
English today.The
same did not hold true for Rajput records. They remained almost unknown
and inaccessible to anyone. Historians strangely neglected this vast
reservoir of an alternative POV of history till around the mid-20th
century.

In the 1950s, the Government of India explored means to bring
to light the rich history of Rajasthan. In 1953, a fact finding committee was appointed by the Government of India, with a view to preserve & study the public as well as private records in the custody of erstwhile royal families of Rajasthan. The committee submitted its report after 8 years, in 1961, in which
it declared that "the cultural heritage of Rajasthan goes back to the
remotest period of Indian history and the archival wealth of the area is
enormous."

Incredible Depth of Historical Records in Rajasthan: Exploring and Cataloguing Private and Public Manuscripts

Since then, various initiatives
have been taken and research into these untranslated records is still
under
progress. Many special measures were taken in the 1980s.The
following video depicts the recent conservation activities and efforts being undertaken in Udaipur, Rajasthan to make Rajput records more easily available to
the common people. It features the present Rana of Udaipur. Even today,
many Rajput records are locked in the private collections of erstwhile
royal families and many glorious details and several
important facts lie hidden from our eyes. In this video, one
can see "sealed, age-old trunks" containing various artefacts and
historical records, which are in the process
of being catalogued and archived systematically.

The
historical records of the Jaipur (erstwhile Amer) and Mewar royal
houses are among the
richest in our country. The records of Jaipur go to the extent of
preserving the details of daily proceedings in the Imperial Court. The
collection of Mewar alone contains 35,000+ paintings, which are slowly
being brought into the public domain through the palace museum.
Last year, the present Maharana had announced the declassification of
13,000 historical artefacts during his lifetime so that common people
today could read and understand the rich heritage of Mewar. Both
the videos are the same. You can watch whichever video streams faster
in your
browser, to get a glimpse of how this initiative is being nurtured and
how time-consuming and expensive the process of archiving these
details is. Unfortunately, the government is not providing much
financial support for the process.We
hope that just like Mughal and other records are easily available for us to read
today, the glorious past of Rajasthan will also be soon available
for everyone to discover and appreciate.

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